Abbey Lake (Lauren Stamile [Past]/Terri Garber) is the main villainess from "Last Returns," episode 1.19 of Cold Case (airdate April 4, 2004). She is the Chief of Staff for her congressman brother, David Lake.
Abbey was approached by Lilly Rush and Scotty Valens regarding the 1992 death of Vanessa Prosser, as Darren Kleeman--who was revealed to be Vanessa's biological father--was shot to death in the episode's events. However, the investigation's progression revealed a shocking truth: when the Lake siblings were teenagers, Abbey molested David, though it was never specified how long the incestuous rape lasted. Marvin Dobie, who was the former lover of the siblings' mother, found out about the incident and blackmailed them into letting him live with them, with Abbey giving the order to continue paying Marvin, as she had maintained control of her brother.
After seeing David making out with Vanessa (and expressing a peculiar jealous demeanor while doing so), the villainess urged David to break up with Vanessa, which he does. However, on the evening of November 3, 1992, Vanessa saw David one more time and told him that she knew about what Abbey had done to him and that they could be together. However, when Vanessa touched David's chest, images of Abbey appeared to him, leading to David shoving Vanessa away in a panic and accidentally sending her down a flight of stairs. Vanessa bled to death instantly due to being a hemophiliac, and afterwards, David called Abbey, who helped him dump Vanessa's body in the river.
David went on to become a successful congressman, with Abbey as his Chief of Staff, but in the episode's events, Kleeman began investigating his daughter's death. Abbey found out about Kleeman's investigation and realized that he was close to the truth about Vanessa, and with that, the evil Abbey tracked down Kleeman and shot him to death to continue covering for her brother. An interview with Marvin ended up revealing the rape, and it led to Abbey being interrogated in the episode's climax. The callous villainess denied assaulting her brother at first, but after being assured that "certain details" would remain hidden, Abbey confessed to everything. Regarding the rape, Abbey took full responsibility, stating that she--as the older sibling--forced herself on David. In addition, Abbey not only confessed to killing Kleeman, she falsely confessed to killing Vanessa--adding that she owed it to David to kill Kleeman, and it was also believed that her false confession was made for that same reason: to make it up to David for her actions. Abbey was arrested for her crimes, and she was shown being placed in a holding cell in the final scenes.
Trivia[]
- Lauren Stamile later appeared as the villainous Sarah Soble on Crossing Jordan, as well as corrupt detective Kiersten Joyce on The Good Guys and an unnamed villainess on American Horror Story: Apocalypse.
- Terri Garber is best known for playing villainess Ashton Main Huntoon on North and South.
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